Invesco’s MSCI Saudi Arabia UCITS ETF has become the largest exchange traded fund offering exposure to the region after raising $315 million in the eight months since its launch in June 2018.
Upon launch, the ETF, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange and denominated in US dollars, was the first in Europe to provide pure passive exposure to Saudi Arabia.
Gary Buxton, head of EMEA ETFs at Invesco, has attributed the demand to the series of major economic reforms enacted by Saudi Arabia to replace a reliance on oil revenues with a more vibrant financial services sector.
“Part of this process includes an opening up of the Saudi equity market as a result of which MSCI announced that Saudi Arabia will be added into its Emerging Markets Index from May this year,” said Buxton. “This inclusion means Saudi Arabia is more attractive to investors.”
The ETF tracks the performance of the MSCI Saudi Arabia 20/35 index which includes 30 large and mid-cap Saudi stocks plus relevant constraints to meet UCITS requirements for diversification and concentration risk.
©2019 funds global mena